I was reading the new Car & Driver article about trying to set a Bonneville speed record in a slightly modified S2000, and they said that the car dynoed 255 RWHP. Then they said that that translates to about 332 hp at the crankshaft. Ok, elementary math tells me that that is a drivetrain loss of over 23%. I have always heard that manual trans. cars lose about 15-18% and auto's lose 18-20. The S2000 is a six speed. What would explain that much loss?

If you take a 300 RWHP car and apply the same loss to it, you get 390hp.

 

the answer is simple..

not every car has the same drivetrain, how can it have the same drivetrain loss..?


yet people will swear up and down they do... i think it makes people feel better about their cars... they can think they make all kinds of power. the internet make this really popular

 

I realize that every drivetrain is different, and that is more what my question was. What difference cause that much more loss? I know that not all cars experience the same percentage loss. Everyone knows how superior the Honda engineering is to the domestics, why is there so much more loss? I am not trying to start an import vs. domestic thing, I am simply asking what is so different about the S2000 that would scavenge that much more power.

 

The motor doesnt make any huge power, but rather uses RPM's to get hp.

Loss, depends on accesory drag, internal pumping loss, the weight and size of all of the parts inside the engine and in the drivetrain, lenth of drive shaft, the fluids used.. everything matter from the motor to the tires..